One year of Idle No More: update and analysis

Last month at around this time, I posted one or two corporate news articles about the one year anniversary of Idle No More (INM). Yesterday (Dec 10), there were a few more articles about the one year anniversary. “What’s up with that?” I thought, so I checked out INM’s website. Turns out, the one year anniversary was officially declared to be a month-long series of events by INM Official (the website).

That was probably a clever move, because combined together, the events over the last month don’t come anywhere close to the mass mobilizations seen last year. In Ottawa alone, hundreds of people gathered on Dec 10, 2012, while this year’s anniversary rally on the same day drew just over 80 people (an estimate based on video of the event).

INM rally in Edmonton on Dec 10, 2012.

Idle No More organizers and supporters explained this drastic decline in various ways. Pam Palmater, a Mi’kmaq lawyer and academic, and one of the most high profile of INM’s supporters, stated “It’s going to be the larger movement itself. So, far beyond Idle No More, but the larger resistance indigenous movement is going to be stronger, more coordinated.”

This, of course, is a convenient way of obscuring INM’s decline by merging it with ongoing grassroots struggles across the country. While there is some truth in this, in that INM’ers have become associated with some grassroots campaigns, it is also somewhat disingenuous in that INM failed to make any significant contributions to the recent Mi’kmaq resistance, for example, a struggle that certainly required a stronger and more coordinated effort from grassroots Natives acting in solidarity.

INM rally on Dec 10, 2013, in Ottawa to mark 1 year anniversary.

A Winnipeg INM organizer, Leah Gazan, claimed that “much of the activism has gone underground” when asked about the smaller turnout during the one year anniversary rally in Winnipeg on Dec 10, 2013. While there has certainly been a major decline in INM’s ability to mobilize Natives, one can hardly take the suggestion that this is because many have gone “underground” with any seriousness.

#Sovereignty Summer: Not Exactly a Heat Wave

While the movement has grown smaller, and is probably now comprised of more committed activists (along with a trickle of newer participants), their basic modus operandi remains pretty much the same as last year: rallies, extensive use of social media (including webinars), and educational work.

Perhaps the most significant change was the alliance established with Defenders of the Land (DOTL) in March 2013. This led to the call for #Sovereignty Summer, intended as an intensifying of “nonviolent direct action” because INM Official now supported such actions (including blockades, which the four “official” founders had previously condemned). This new commitment to direct action was expressed in a press release announcing the launch of #Sovereignty Summer:

“Idle No More’s founders and its chapters across the country have issued a call to build mounting pressure, including through mass non-violent direct actions to be joined by non-natives, to challenge “the Harper government and the corporate agenda.”

The call-out fell far short of its goals of “intensifying” actions. Perhaps the most significant action associated with Sovereignty Summer was the banner drop at a July 1st Canada Day celebration in Toronto. Digital data analyst Mark Blevis released a report on social media activity related to Sovereignty Summer, entitled “Sovereignty Summer struggled to capture public attention.”

According to Blevis, the summer campaign struggled for various reasons. For one, many people do not engage in political events during the summer, and use of social media also drops. This summer also saw the Lac Megantic train derailment and explosion, as well as flooding in Toronto and Calgary, events which Sovereignty Summer could not compete with in terms of media coverage.

“The result was Sovereignty Summer faced challenges online. Between June 1 and August 31 hashtags and terms associated with Sovereignty Summer (#SovSummer and #SovereigntySummer and the phrase “Sovereignty Summer”) were mentioned 7,698 times online. The most active platform was Twitter where 2,588 Twitter handles issued 7,311 relevant tweets. That was followed by news sources (224), blogs (143) and forums including Reddit (19). Nineteen videos which mentioned Sovereignty Summer or one of its known hashtags in video titles or descriptive meta-text were uploaded.

#Sovereignty Summer Twitter trend statistics compiled by Mark Blevis.

“By way of comparison, 2,800 participants issued over 14,600 tweets on December 10 [2012], the day Idle No More truly launched online.

“Trending information shows Sovereignty Summer didn’t really take hold online until late June, in the days leading up to a planned Canada Day protest. The online energy was short lived, dropping sharply to very limited activity on July 7th and struggling to keep above 50 mentions each day for the remainder of the summer.”

After Sovereignty Summer, INM and DOTL called for rallies and educational events for October 7, 2013, the 250th anniversary of the 1763 Royal Proclamation. According to INM, this day saw some 40 events across the country.

INM and INM: Competing Acronyms

Throughout the spring and summer, I kept seeing vague postings about the Indigenous Nationhood Movement making it’s big debut on November 5, 2013. At first I thought it was a transformation of Idle No More into something a bit more focused and perhaps more significant. I awaited the day with anticipation, to see what would transpire.

Then the day came. And it was—wait for it—the official launch of the Indigenous Nationhood Movement website! Now enter the intellectuals, including Taiaiake Alfred and Glen Coulthard, two university professors who have strong anti-colonial analysis and who have been critical of Idle No More’s convoluted approach.

In fact, Taiaiakie began building the hype for the Nationhood Movement as early as January 29, 2013, with his article “Indigenous Nationhood: Beyond Idle No More,” in which he asserted the movement had “plateaued” and had now lost its initial passion (see “Indigenous Nationhood: Beyond Idle No More,” by Gerald Taiaiake Alfred, Common Dreams, January 29, 2013).

Taiaiake continued to build the hype through a Nationhood Movement Facebook page established in March 2013, claiming that,

“INM is the continuation, the revitalization, the realization… of our long-standing fight to recover our lands, demand respect for the treaties that are the foundation of North American societies, and demonstrate the strength and dignity of our people. It’s decolonization in the 21st century, it’s Idle No More without restraint, it’s acting on our ancestral rites, it is Indigenous Nationhood!”

But using the same acronym? INM and INM, really? Perhaps the Nationhood Movement thought that Idle No More really was finished, and it would be an opportune time to usurp the acronym as a means of drawing in demobilized INM’ers. Overall, the Nationhood Movement’s activities have thus far focused on posting articles to its website while recruiting members online. Time will tell how successful it will be in its efforts, but using the same acronym as Idle No More will become confusing if it expands into an actual movement capable of mobilizing people.

Who are Defenders of the Land?

For those that don’t know, the Defenders of the Land (DOTL) is a network of Native organizers from various “high profile” struggles across the country. Established in 2008, the group met several times at locations across the country, including Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Ottawa. Although it portrays itself as a “grassroots” network, the fact is it has always allied itself with Indian Act chiefs (at least those involved in some kind of dispute with mining or logging industries, for example).

Two founders of DOTL, Art Manuel (Secwepemc) and Russell Diabo (Mohawk), have both been involved in Native politics since the 1970s. Manuel has served as the Neskonlith band chief as well as head of the Secwepemc Tribal Council. Manuel’s family were one of those involved in the anti-Sun Peaks ski resort campaign in the early 2000’s. Diabo is based in Ottawa where he works as a lobbyist and researcher.

Together with Manuel and Diabo, DOTL has also had younger organizers who have been involved for several years now with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), such as Clayton Thomas-Muller (Cree), who has worked with the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) and the campaign against the Tar Sands. Muller is also now an organizer with Idle No More, and served as the “national campaign organizer” for Sovereignty Summer.

DOTL was also the main organizer of a June 24 Indigenous day of action during the build up to the Toronto G20 in 2010. In the call-out for this action, DOTL also called for nation-wide protests:

There were no nation-wide protests outside of the rally in Toronto, and DOTL was criticized beforehand for attempting to impose its “nonviolence” ideology on the grassroots. This occurred in the context of fear mongering resulting from militant actions directed against the 2010 Olympics.

The G20 call out was signed by a number of band councils and NGOs, including Algonquins of Barriere Lake, Ardoch Algonquin First Nation, Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, Deh Cho First Nation, Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI, also known as Big Trout Lake FN, six of its councillors were briefly imprisoned in 2008 for obstructing mining operations), and Pimicikamak (Cross Lake FN), the Defenders of the Land organizing committee, and the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN).

A member of the RCMP’s “community relations group” which worked with Defenders of the Land for their June 24, 2010 rally.

The June 24 Indigenous day of action during the Toronto G20 was characterized by close collaboration with police, including the RCMP’s community relations group. Police liaison members worked closely with organizers, and in the organizing meetings for the rallies there were efforts to impose a ban on masks during the rally itself. While other days of action saw overwhelming police deployments and harassment, DOTL’s rally saw little police presence and was tightly controlled by the organizers. Cops participated in the rally and claimed they were there to “protect the elders” (while beating and arresting Natives and non-Natives on all the other days of actions).

DOTL was also criticized by some grassroots Native women in 2011, who issued a fake public statement apologizing on behalf of DOTL for being male dominated and for attempting to impose nonviolence on the grassroots:

In addition, the question was raised as to what kind of “grassroots” organization DOTL was, and specifically how decisions were made and imposed on the network by the vague and undefined “organizing committee” of DOTL.

A few days later, Indigenous Women of the Movement released a statement clarifying that they had in fact issue the parody statement to draw attention to the criticisms they had of the group (“Why We Wrote the Statement of Apology,” April 27, 2011).

Ongoing Collaboration with Indian Act Chiefs

One of my main criticisms of INM last year was its close relationship with many Indian Act chiefs, including band councils and provincial organizations such as the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC). Some of the chiefs leading the charge in this respect are also among the most heavily invested in oil and gas production (such as chief Wallace Fox of the Onion Lake FN). Others, such as Derek Nepinak of the AMC, had just received news that their organization’s funding was to be cut.

Chief Wallace Fox of Onion Lake FN leads the “charge” into House of Commons, Dec 4, 2012, an action that helped jump start the INM rallies.

Despite the alliance with the “grassroots” network of DOTL, INM has not only continued to work with Indian Act chiefs, they have now entered into formal alliance with them against the proposed First Nations Education Act (FNEA). The Dec 10, 2013 rally in Ottawa, for example, was a joint effort by DOTL, INM, and the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) (along with a new entity, the National Treaty Alliance, formed in Onion Lake in July 2013 and comprised of those chiefs who allied with INM last year against AFN grand chief Shawn Atleo).

Art Manuel and Russell Diabo, the founders of DOTL, also participated in the AFN’s special chief’s assembly in Gatineau, Quebec, in early December 2013, with Manuel acting as a proxy for the Neskonlith band and Diabo as a proxy for the Wolf Lake First Nation in Quebec.

Why a national day of “teach-ins”? Probably, on the one hand, to actually carry out public education about the proposed act, but one would also suspect because all parties lack faith in their ability to mobilize Natives on the scale of last year’s INM rallies. But we can be sure that INM, DOTL, and their allies in the Indian Act system will most certainly try. This was shown in an APTN news article about the special chief’s assembly in Gatineau that focused on a remark by aboriginal affairs deputy minister Michael Wernick about the low level of protests compared to last year.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs told APTN that

“One of the most senior federal officials made a very snide remark… (Wernick) said something to the effect that there is not as much noise outside this time… The only time they are compelled to act is when we have that noise outside… We need to actually manifest ourselves as nations.”

We can therefore expect another attempt to resuscitate INM, with the help of DOTL and the Indian Act chiefs, who are once again engaging in a power struggle with the federal government over funding and attempting to use the grassroots as political leverage (one of their standard tactics).

Derek Nepinak on the cover of Edmonton Sun, 2012.

But that canoe has already paddled. It is unlikely that INM, DOTL, or the AFN will be able to mobilize another effort on the scale of last year’s INM. The flash-mob round dances in malls has been played out, and many Natives have likely lost interest in protesting more government legislation. The fact is, despite claims to the contrary, last year’s INM mobilization had a specific goal: stopping Bill C-45. It failed, and we are now left with the residue of INM and those attempting to use it as a platform to pursue their own agendas (including numerous genuine grassroots struggles who think that by linking themselves to INM they will raise their profile and garner more support).

I thank the Creator for bringing us the Mi’kmaq resistance against fracking. The warriors on the front line have demonstrated to all of us the effectiveness of militant direct action in defending land and water. Despite small numbers and few resources, the Mi’kmaq and their allies succeeded in disrupting and delaying the work of SWN Resources Canada in its efforts to carry out seismic testing. They did this by grassroots community organizing and despite the attempts by the Elsipogtog chief Aaron Sock to undermine the Mi’kmaq Warrior Society.

Mi’kmaq warriors at tire fire blockade, December 2013.

And where were INM, DOTL or the AFN during the most intense period of the Mi’kmaq struggle, following the Oct 17 RCMP raid? Where were the tens of thousands of Idle No More-Official Facebook members? True, INM Official did denounce the police attack and called for “peaceful actions” to support the Mi’kmaq, but it’s overall response was minimal. Despite claims of leading a “peaceful revolution,” INM hasn’t done anything significant since January 2013, and that was only with the assistance of Indian Act chiefs (including chief Spences’ “hunger strike to the death”). The truth is, it is mostly a movement on social media.

As I’ve stated in previous articles, the Indian Act chiefs need something like INM in order to mobilize the grassroots for their power struggles with the federal government, and something like INM needs the chiefs and their resources to pull off any major events. It’s a symbiotic relationship that only confuses the people and which undermines our efforts to build a genuine grassroots Native resistance.

Simply put..many of the persons identified in this article are present, former and future councillors elected under the Indian act…their authority then and now is illegal as are their agendas..INM is equally as guilty but fortunately even though one of the co-founders personally has benefitted in terms of travel, honoraria, mileage claims, fees and similarily to her former law school classmate Nepinak, have seen their own interests become enmeshed in those of the movements making it difficult to clearly see their ambitions and greed come to fruition..same with Wally Fox well known for using whatever means to advance his own agendas…Art Manuel is and continues to be gorging at the Indigenous trough for all it is worth regardless of many years of deficits in Neskonliths band budgets…the Stewart Phillips, Atleo’s and Ed John’s of the Indiegous world, regardless of the forum are continually and opportunistically using all means and method for their own expoitation under many names, acronyms and monikers..and why should T.Alfred be any different..having taught a form of Indigenous governance that is unlike any hereditary system I have heard of..it was only a matter of time…while the getting is good or the potential to be good seemingly exists…there will be this group of bottom feeders…all with ties to the el;ected/appointed system of INAC governance or their affiliated provincial, tribal or community ogranizations and contacts. Most served their own self serving purpose and now it is long past time for the only authentic hereditary governace to become reinstated and assume their rightful roles as leaders, liaisons, spokepersons and keepers of our inherent rights…take away their forums and troughs and watch they look elsewhere for their nest meal ticket…continue grassroot, you need little if any of their so called expertise , contacts or wisdom

while i respect that the resentment evident here and elsewhere for ‘elected/appointed officials’ is well earned, i’m cautioned by a statement which I can’t forget, and which I’d like your readers to consider: (perhaps the most scathing indictment of activism of this sort that I have seen, and also the best constructive criticism) “The worst part about the Occupy movement is that they made the Tea Party look good.”
Fact is, they’re called ‘the halls of power’ for a reason. You and I don’t vote on legislation, but we can influence those who do, and every so often, profoundly influence who those people will be.
My shortest odds for a better deal for this country’s natives and its nature is a native voters association; popular lobbying of ‘holders of power’ (representatives) and civic education(higher quality voting). Remember, democracy is a wonderful and terrible thing; we get the government we vote for.
While canadian law and practice disenfranchise natives at all levels, they do have the same vote as other canadians. What’s gonna stop them when they use it?

Natives comprise approximately 5 percent of the overall population, therefore there is little influence they can have even if somehow all Natives voted for one specific candidate. Overall, there is little difference between political parties once they are in office. Some might say Natives should vote NDP, but it was the NDP who introduced the fraudulent BC treaty process and who also authorized the militarized police assault at Ts’Peten/Gustafsen Lake in 1995. I do not believe the answer lies in voting or appeals to those in power, but rather in the self-organization of a strong grassroots resistance.

Democracy and its lackeys Native or non Native have endorsed corporations that have destroyed, polluted and desecrated Mother Earth since contact. Playing into that paradigm spells the end of life that we have known and cherished. This is basically the last hour for the earth and life on it and “voting” or some other cute idea won’t change it. Face it these corporations and the govts behind them won’t stop till they have destroyed all or maybe they already have. The way the Mother Earth has been reacting lately our place in the universe may only be a waiting game. But for now the best way to stop them is the only way they know, by force.

Grass roots actions and human beings should not have cell phones, computers etc. Effective actions don’t need selfies, media nor intellectuals. All they need are clear goals, stamina, sacrifice, medicine and the traditional belief that the natural world is indeed sacred and is to be protected at all costs. Not to be polluted or desecrated any further by non-natives or natives for money or anything else. Mother Earth and future generations demand it, NOW!!!!

After an idle no more event was staged by a band council who claim to be a traditional government, yet had been sending out press releases before idle no more reared its head, denouncing elders who had been leading the charge and were having some success in raising awareness and were interfering with resource theft and extraction on our unceded territories. I took the liberty of contacting one of the band councillor’s and asked that individual how a colonial imposed government could claim to be a traditional government, yet also publicly disrespect the elders. I requested that that person explain their sudden interest in the idle no more movement. Their response was that their government was trying to force bills through an ‘undemocratic process’, yeah no shit sherlock.

Canada only exists because it has been forcing it self upon native people since its inception which this individual might have known had they had the good sense to listen to the elders instead of actively working to oppress them on the Canadian government’s behalf. The attempts of elected councils of playing two ends against the middle will not work as we have seen with the puttering out of idle no more. That band council did not after that event attempt to stage anymore, I wonder why?

The fact that the chiefs and councillor’s are mired just as deeply in the shit and corruption as Canadian’s are and have on Canada’s behalf kept a strangle hold on band members rather than adhering to traditional methods of taking care of their people thus ensuring you have healthy strong warriors who are capable of taking a stand is something that hopefully became apparent to people during this brief episode of posturing. They have made themselves impotent and maybe they will come to realize it now and smarten up and allow traditional governments to emerge.

My staunch refusal to participate in the colonial crafted game playing is because they are predatory oppressive systems producing either oppressed human beings or predatory human beings which is an ugly reality that I don’t think it is anyone’s best interest to accept. The point of living your life is to be able to do so with dignity, honour and pride and currently that is not an option available and that is not something I wish to pass on to the next generations. The Mi’kmaq did a wonderful thing and right now are probably feeling much better about themselves as human beings than any of the rest of us are.

Idle No More made me a convert. I was once a committed bureaucrat with anarchist and Marxist sympathies. During Idle no More, I watched the marginalization of people with decades of on the ground experience in resistance the name of “good vibes” and “positive energies” promoted by Lawyers and bureaucrats with their own vested interests in producing a slightly modified version of the status quo. It made me sick to my stomach. I watched as students made decisions for the elders, and talked about them as though they weren’t there at all. I watched as issues of social stratification within our communities were swept under the rug in the name of “good vibes” and “positive energies”. I watched as these young students tried to become the “Buckskin Jacket Secret Police”, trying to out people that didn’t fit into their narrow view of what indigeneity entailed. I watched as my mother’s voice, an elder whose was persevered in the face of extreme violence, who watched in horror as her family was ruined by the policies of a genocidal state, was made out to be “quaint” and “cute”. I watched as these young students, lawyers, and Indian Act Chiefs ignored the intersection of race, class (especially class), gender, and environmental degradation and made it all about politics politics, politics. It opened my eyes to the fact that there are numerous people within our communities that are engaged every single day with our problems and are trying to come up with radical, culturally appropriate solutions to these problems. It is these people that need to be supported, engaged with. To be sure there are various tactics to change, but I can’t in good conscience be associated with a movement that truly believes in its heart of hearts that the system can be reformed to meet their needs as Indigenous people. I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart Zig Zag and this website for all the work they have done over the years, and for helping me find my authentic voice. JJM.